Dennis from Parrish, FL

Wow, Spoff making $300 Large per year! I assume the IRS knows!?

Shhhh.

Chris from Weston, WI

Let me get this straight...there's no math in here but there's Latin?

It's Wes's world, and the rest of us are just livin' in it.

Ryan from Milwaukee, WI

I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.

Oh, you have no idea, bruv. Read on. Looks like I picked the wrong week to …

Jake from Greenfield, WI

Wow, did Spoff take an impromptu vacation?! This seems unprecedented for the Packers. Does this move show how much confidence Gutey has in this roster?

To answer your first question, as a matter of fact I did. No lie. Yes, I've posted the column this morning, but I had actually hopped on a plane Thursday afternoon to take my daughter out east for a grad school campus visit. Nothing like casually reading a book on the flight and then turning my phone back on when the plane landed to see the news. So that immediately altered my evening at the hotel, as well as a column I had mostly written prior to takeoff. But so it goes, and good to know the best of traditions never dies.

Given all that, and in the interest of time and devoting my entire Friday to my daughter's future, I'm going to address several thoughts here in quasi-monologue form. Gutey's confidence in this roster? In spades. To me, this is him saying he feels he's built a team to win, win now, and win for the next few years, so the opportunity to add a generational talent and player on a Hall of Fame trajectory was too good to pass up. How else to interpret the move when it includes the oft-discussed double whammy (high draft pick compensation, massive contract), which has considerable future implications that can never be taken lightly? This is as bold as it gets. Due to the cost, it's bolder than Ron Wolf signing Reggie White, as transcendental as that was for various reasons. It comes with a lot less skepticism than Ted Thompson's signing of Charles Woodson, which worked out better than anyone predicted. Gutey used the word "urgency" at the end of last season when looking ahead. Well, that wasn't just talk to this GM. He's walking the walk. Urgency was put on the table, and now it's in the locker room.

Andy from Lowell, MI

Guess Mr. Kuhn was on to something, huh?

I honestly think he was just trolling, but what do I know. I do know we've had a weeklong discussion in this space about rumors being sourced and coming from reliable news outlets. I can honestly say I did not think Jerry Jones would trade Micah Parsons until I saw info Thursday morning out of Dallas from longtime, reputable local and national beat reporters that the Cowboys were actually considering offers. It never felt like a legitimate possibility until then. The other day I had just watched the episode in the Cowboys series on Netflix that reminded me when Jones was in a contract dispute in '93 with Emmitt Smith, with Dallas coming off its first Super Bowl of that era. Smith's holdout lasted through the first two games, the Cowboys went 0-2, they worked it out and went on to defend their title. So that, combined with Jones' comments about how the blowout wild-card loss at the hands of the Packers two seasons ago was one of the worst in franchise history (on top of the down-to-the-wire playoff defeats to GB in '14 and '16), made me think no way he's trading him, and absolutely no way it's to the Packers. There obviously was something to the two weeks of speculation and supposition, and I'm going to say now I still won't have the energy or capacity to engage in something like this until there's credible reporting on it. But what came out Thursday morning was indeed credible, and the finality wasn't far behind.

Tony from Davenport, IA

I definitely didn't see that trade coming, that's a highly unusual trade for BG. Do you think the Packers might have given up too much on that trade?

Two first-round picks is standard fare in deals like this. History tells us that. When I was pondering (in my mind, admittedly remote) Packers possibilities, I assumed just based on age and position that Gutey would have to give up Rashan Gary or Lukas Van Ness in any deal, and/or a second-round pick to go with the two firsts. Avoiding all that feels like a win. Not that Clark is some chump. I still think he's a whale of a player. But on paper he's a 10th-year guy coming off an injury-hampered year and offseason surgery. To have an edge-rushing collection of Parsons, Gary and LVN with Edgerrin Cooper and Xavier McKinneyat other levels of the defense is, in a word, bonkers. We saw Hafley's creative mind last year, then a new position coach up front was brought in, and now the group just added a 26-year-old, three-time All-Pro who is anything but a one-trick pony. He's a disruptive-all-over force who can line up anywhere and change a game at any moment. To answer your question more succinctly, I'm actually taken aback another team didn't offer more, especially given the two picks Dallas is getting will fall, if the Packers are the team they're projected to be, late in the first round.

Dave from Huntsville, AL

Well, color me surprised. The rumors were true for once. I just hope we didn't overpay. We are now very inexperienced in the middle of the D-line, or am I missing something?

You don't gain experience by trading a polished veteran like Clark, but Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden aren't exactly new kids on the block. Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse are, and their roles were just heightened as well. The Packers have the manpower on the inside to get it done, so the players have to reward the faith they're being shown. My only word of caution is those of you who read me regularly know all offseason I posited the defense's biggest challenge as improving the pass rush without sacrificing the strides made in run defense. Time will tell if the latter holds true. No easy task. That said, you don't get something without giving up something, and the Packers gave up a real pro in every sense. Personally, I'm crushed to see Kenny leave. He will go down as one of my all-time favorites. Just a solid, enjoyable dude. I hope his career still has a lot of good football left in it.

With that, I'm going to shift the rest of the column to a portion I (mostly) wrote prior to boarding, and extend an advance, heartfelt thanks to Wes for handling the rest of the Parsons coverage this weekend while I'm gone.

Dave from St. Peters, MO

Mike, please share a Mark Murphy story from your time in the press box.

I don't know if there's one in particular that truly stands out. What I remember is just taking a few moments during timeouts to talk football, what he was seeing out there and how he felt about the game. As I said on "Unscripted," it was always a reminder of how accomplished a player he was before he went on to such an impressive post-football life.

Dave from Kaukauna, WI

"... joined ... by my partner in everything Packers ..." That's my favorite intro to Packers Unscripted.

I literally just decided while doing the intro I was going to throw a changeup, and it came to me in the moment. Felt like the show needed it. Little did I know what I was starting in the way of, well, surprises.

Ron from Spooner, WI

Jeez, I never thought I could be so enthralled by a story about a football jersey from 1957, but Cliff Christl changed my mind. What a fascinating article (as always).

Cliff remains a must-read, even in times like these.

Rick from Shawano, WI

Is it true the Houston Texans are paying LB Nick Niemann's salary?

Not exactly. Niemann had salary guarantees in his contract with Houston, which are offset by the league minimum salary the Packers are paying him.

Jerry from Des Moines, IA

Were you surprised Nick Niemann was claimed when he and Kristian Welch seem interchangeable? Do you know if they tried to sign Kalen King to the PS? Did he want to move on or no interest from the Packers?

Niemann wasn't claimed. He was signed as a vested veteran not subject to waivers. There are similarities to Welch, but Niemann has a more dynamic athletic profile, so the Packers are interested to see what he's got and were able to get him for a minimal investment. As for King, I don't know if the Packers asked him back on the PS, but either way I don't blame him for wanting to start fresh.

Dominic from Chesapeake, VA

Mike, I was a bit surprised that the Packers waived Kalen King and kept Kamal Hadden and Robinson. Do you think that because King plays almost exclusively in the slot and all of our other DBs have experience in the slot, BG felt that both Hadden and Robinson, who have played almost exclusively on the corners, gives us more depth overall? Thanks!

That may have factored into the thinking. At this stage, they're still projecting what they believe players will become. Robinson was released to make room for Niemann, which speaks to how they felt about Hadden’s strong finish to camp/preseason.

Jeff from Littlefork, MN

Which is the better feel-good story of the roster, Bo Melton or Stackhouse?

As I discussed on our latest "Unscripted," Melton's story to me isn't just the best one of camp in '25, it's the best one around here in a long time. In that vein, I take nothing away from Stackhouse, but as Wes mentioned on the show, how he performed raised the question of why he wasn't drafted in the first place.

Neill from Knapp, WI

More of a comment on Carson Wentz. In my humble opinion, I believe tearing his ACL in 2017 and the next year breaking a vertebrae in his back took away much of his ability to escape the rush and to run. Being a pocket passer wasn't his forte.

Valid points. I honestly had forgotten about the back injury.

Bruce from Travelers Rest, SC

Who are the returners likely to be?

We may have to wait until kickoff a week from Sunday to find out.

Mark from De Pere, WI

I was wondering if you could tell me what you expect out of Luke Musgrave this season. I attended an early training camp practice and he seemed somewhat timid but at a later practice he looked like a totally different player. Your thoughts please.

Musgrave got stronger as camp went along, there's no doubt about that. I'm sure being and feeling completely healthy for an extended stretch did wonders for him. He hadn't experienced that much in his brief NFL career thus far. If he can stay healthy and keep building from here, he can be a downfield weapon forcing defenses to make decisions.

Jennifer from Middleton, WI

Hi Spoff, hope you are getting a breath in before we really hit the gas again. Matt said they formed a leadership council this year. With 20 years of tenure, what's your take on what that does for the team when they do vs. do not have it in place? And does it indicate anything to you that they did it this year given he said they haven't since his first year as HC?

I don't know if there's a right or wrong. I think it all depends on where your team is and what makes sense given all the circumstances. Remember, in LaFleur's tenure, Years 2-3 were Covid seasons, then there were major transitions going on – trading Adams in '22, trading Rodgers in '23, new DC and big-name free agents signed in '24. All that dust had settled until the Parsons trade, so we'll see what that means in this context. But I understand LaFleur's approach.

Jeff from Indian Lake, NY

Coming back to the football is taught from the beginning I would imagine. So how does Matthew Golden have such a knack for it? Football IQ, high pointing the football, instincts? All cliches aside, you can see why he was the player to break the first-round WR streak. Can't wait to see him play when the bologna stops!

You speak for many.

Doug from Neenah, WI

Good morning, Insiders. This offseason we survived veteran free agency, the draft, undrafted free agency, a variety of training camps, practices, three preseason games and now cutdown day. Through it all, the only 100% healthy difference maker added to the 53 is Matthew Golden. Can he provide the juice needed for a deeper playoff run?

Obviously this was submitted pre-Parsons, but that aside, do you realize you mentioned every step of the offseason and then skipped right to the playoffs? More team and player development occurs over the next four months than any other time.

John from St. Albert, Canada

I know it's inevitable, but I fear the 20-game schedule (2 pre, 18 reg). The owners' logic that more games means more revenue not only ignores diminishing rates of return but also the impact on quality. Point – the CFL has a 20-game season. What was once an exciting league of big plays is sloppy crap now for the first half of the season. Revenue is down because fans like me don't tune in until late in the season when the product improves and games actually matter.

Your last point is really the key to it all. Adding more games, adding more playoff teams … there's danger lurking. The week-to-week grind still has to matter to maintain the league's level of popularity. What's the breaking point? At some juncture perhaps we'll all find out.

Jeff from Edgerton, WI

Good morning, Mike. Does your mid-week chat start next Wednesday or after the Week 1 game?

The plan is to kick it off next Wednesday to preview Week 1.

Robert from Milton, WI

Exempli gratia? Here I thought it was EG-zample. Guess that's why English was my least favorite class...

No wonder your town doesn't have a college anymore. Sorry, couldn't resist. Happy Friday.

HAVE A QUESTION?